Omega Mage
by Ultima Mage
Summary: Soala, an elite mage, has a grudge against Spira and all-powerful magic. Not a good combination.
1. Forbidden Knowledge

I, Ultima Mage, am going to right a nice little fic. It's post-good ending and shows, among other things, the darker side of Paine and why humans should not have forbidden and all-powerful magic. It kind of cramps the neighbors.  
  
May the insanity begin. --------------------------  
  
Three Years Ago  
  
"No...she couldn't have." A man in a sorcerer's clothing said, flabbergasted.  
  
"I'm afraid- and yet joyful- that it is, Soala. Lady Yuna has defeated Sin. Eternally, without the Final Aeon." A second man, in priest's uniform, replied. The first man, Soala, was the leader of the Omega Mages, a group that studied Yevon for ways to defeat Sin by magic. It was a noble quest, hidden deep in Bevelle temple. Hopeless, many would say. And yet they had just devised a way to bring Sin down via their mighty magical arts. But this news that the first man, Maester Voyne, had delivered made the whole search in vain. Seven people had stolen their thunder! Undermining years of work, they had defeated Yu Yevon at Sin's very core. The anger...was unimaginable.  
  
"But we Omega Mages have been working for one thousand years! What am I to tell my followers?"  
  
"Go home. It's over. Good-bye Soala." One Year Ago (i.e., during FFX-2)  
  
Soala wasn't sure what this spell was about to do. Mages are very experimenting. Soala finally performed the spell he just invented...if only it goes right, he thought. So he touched upon the powers he had practiced individually and performed the spell. Suddenly, pyreflies flew from everywhere. Soala could see nor hear anything but pyreflies. Eventually, the pyreflies cleared and Soala found a book on the table in front of him. 'Surely not...." He spoke aloud on accident, so great was his disbelief.  
  
But it was. "The...the Cigam! Power, unknown to mortal man, is...is...mine." It felt weird. He opened it slowly...before it burst open and a pillar of light extended from it. Soala was slowly levitated up, and then into the middle of the lights...then a flash. He was sat back down, the Cigam was gone, and he felt...changed. "It has happened....really happened!" Now, he thought I must plan this carefully.  
  
Present (One year after FFX-2)  
  
"Lazy! Good for nothing! Ungrateful!" A mans deep voice yelled. Paine slammed a door.  
  
"He never shuts up, does he Paine?" Yuna noted.  
  
"Not really. This is the reason I left home. Fathers." Paine replied.  
  
"You're lucky. My father left when I was five. He died...fighting Sin." Yuna turned quiet all of a sudden. It hurt to think that the last person to die in vain, a mere decade before the truth, was her father.  
  
"Perhaps. But then again you're father wasn't a cursing, verbally abusive, madman." Paine chuckled.  
  
"Hey there, girls! Whatcha talking about?" Tidus poked his head in.  
  
"Hey who gave you a key?" Yuna giggled.  
  
"I grabbed one from on top of the wall molding, where every other key on this airship is."  
  
"No wonder Leblanc found stealing that sphere so easy. We have the key above every door." Paine noted dryly. "Now, about my father..."  
  
"Aw, you can't do anything about that old meanie until you give him what he wants." Rikku said, coming out of the bathroom.  
  
"Rikku he wants me to marry Baralai!" Paine snapped, frustrated.  
  
"And Baralai said what about this?" Rikku remarked slyly.  
  
"Why do you think we're going to Luca? We're humoring him until we can dump him in Luca. Where Baralai is."  
  
"Ooh, Luca's always exciting!" Rikku was a little hyper. The reason was as always: during the times when Brother and Cid were fighting really badly, Rikku saw a counselor. The counselor prescribed caffeine pills for the stress. There was no expiration date for the prescription and Rikku had become- well let's just say mildly addicted. [AN: Yes I couldn't resist a Caffeine joke] "Always something happens that you'll remember forever."  
  
"Not another let's-save-Spira adventure I hope." Yuna said. She was still tired from Vegnagun.  
  
"Yes. Let's hope." Paine chuckled again. She had been in a better mood the past few months. It may have been the rage she let out in the Den of Woe but she felt good. ------------------------------------------------------ Ok the first few questions on you mind: Q: Soala sounds familiar. Where have I seen him before? A: As a clan member in FFTA. He is my Alchemist/Sage. He's cool and I like that name.  
  
Q: Paine/Baralai? A: No. Just hinted. No pairing plays a big part in the plot.  
  
Q: Paine's dad? A: Yes, you'll see.  
  
Q: Omega Mage? And your pen name is Ultima Mage? A: Again, you'll see.  
  
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. 


	2. A city burns

You guys didn't give me reviews... tsk tsk. I will destroy stuff in this chapter. My anger will be vented! Ok I actually planned this already out. But if I do write impulsively, important people die. Review, ok?

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Soala sat in his hotel room in Luca, not knowing what path his life was taking with this dangerous next step. Or indeed, it was not his life, but that of this very planet.  
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He needed to be precise...one year of planning would be wasted otherwise. Day and night the power of the Cigam was burning within him, wanting to be used. And the miserable civilization that exists on this planet would deal with the consequences of rejection and forgetting of the Omega Mages, those who slaved for a thousand years to defeat Sin for them. _They will know our true power_, Soala thought.  
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On the Celsius, the Gullwings still did not quite understand why Paine had brought a verbally abusive, potentially psychotic man on their airship. Paine called Baralai in advance and explained the situation to him. He agreed to humor Paine's father while the Gullwings manages to arrive at the airship and leave Luca. Shinra had already used him as an unwitting guinea pig for a tracking device, like a small sphere in his arm. They would know how to avoid him when he began looking for them.  
  
"Once he realizes we're gone, he will hunt us down and probably take down the airship." Paine remarked. She was very gloomy.  
  
"Um, Paine I don't think he could destroy an airship from the ground." Yuna thought Paine might be a little too tense.  
  
"Actually," said Shinra, "After she left home her father joined the Al Bhed and became one of them. His main interest was weapons and it is likely he could take down the ship."  
  
"Told you Yuna. He's not someone to fool around with."  
  
"Thanks for raising the mood Shinra!" Rikku snapped.  
  
"I'm just a kid." He replied and immediately left.  
  
"Well, Luca's always good for a party. We'll have fun while we're there." Yuna was trying to bring up the mood, not state facts like Shinra always did.  
  
"Yddahdeur! Gullwings, asankahlo!" Brother's voice blared over the intercom. (Attention! Gullwings, emergency!)  
  
"What's going on?" Yuna spoke fast in emergencies.  
  
"There's smoke in the engines!" Buddy was yelling.  
  
"Are we on fire?"  
  
"No it's...Luca."  
  
"What about it?"  
  
"It's burning Yuna. It's burning."

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Soala stood looking at the destruction around him. His powers were truly marvelous, and he had just proved it. Luca, a powerful city, was in flames. Soon he would make a statement announcing war on Spira and bingo, all opposition would be instantly decimated. Just a few more hours while Luca burns.

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Can the Gullwings save Luca? Of course not idiots everything's on fire. LOL. But a bigger question: What exactly is Soala thinking? How will Tidus and Paine's father interact on this new mission? What happens to Paine's father? Tune in next week! 


	3. Cornerstone of Destruction

No reviews? I have an idea! First 3 reviewers receive the next chapter 24 hours before publishing.

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Soala had more power than humans could comprehend. He was no longer a mere human. He sat on the roof of the largest skyscraper in Luca and began to raze the city to the ground. [A/N: In the year since FFX-2, Spira has been speeding up its technology faster than ever. Luca will be described as containing skyscrapers. Automobiles will probably not make an appearance.] Meteors rained from the sky. Bolts of lighting would strike whole crowds of people. The waves themselves were pushing working their utter destruction. Soala was in total control.  
  
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Meanwhile, YRPT [A/N: Good ending basis, Tidus has been added in] were rescuing the few they could.  
  
"Get these people out of here Brother!" Yuna yelled as Brother took a batch of refugees to Bevelle. "We'll be fine until you get back!" All Yuna wondered was, who did this? Luca had enough fire defenses that this was no accident. She saw the last remaining large building, and saw someone on top of it, his or her arms raised in magic. "What's going on? Is that person creating the fire, or casting white magic to keep themselves alive?"  
  
Tidus had overheard Yuna. "But to create fire against Luca's defenses would be so hard that an accident would be more likely."  
  
"Then let's assume that person is keeping themselves and the building standing via white magic." Paine stated. It was obvious really. If only YRPT knew, things may have gone differently that night.  
  
"Right! Let's do it!" Rikku was, as always, enthusiastic. [A/N: -mission time music plays-]  
  
---  
A few minutes later Yuna, Rikku, and Paine were nearing the roof of the building. Tidus was lagging behind, checking all rooms, and seeing if the person's magic had kept any others alive. When YRP reached the top, they saw Soala, still casting his spells.  
  
"You came here. That was not a good idea."  
  
"Who, may I ask, are you? We need to get you out of here." Yuna was trying to be polite and puzzled at the same time. It wasn't working.  
  
"I am Soala, the Omega Mage. The one who worked toward Spira's benefit for years. Yet I have been rejected. So no longer do I work for Spira's benefit. I work for the downfall of a society that has forgotten me. I work against the injustice I have suffered. I work to inflict the pain of my life onto those who have forsaken me."  
  
"What the hell?" Paine was not usually the first to speak but the way this man talked was simply strange.  
  
"My power is absolute. Sin itself possessed no power such as me. Only Yu Yevon has ever wielded power equal to half of what I can do in seconds. The progress and evolution of Spira that led to my suffering will be undone. The millennia of prosperity will be undone in mere weeks. Perhaps days if I wish it to happen. The destruction of the world's largest city? Simply the beginning. The cornerstone of destruction to come!"  
  
"Or not. This ends here!" Yuna cried. She raised her Brotherhood sword (Tidus had allowed her to retain it, he used Caldabolg mostly) and attempted to attack Soala with an Excalibur attack. She jumped into the air and tried to hit Soala. She froze in midair as Soala simply continued his destruction. He slowly turned around, nodded his head, and Yuna flew backwards into a half-wall.  
  
Rikku and Paine, as a Berserker and Gunner respectively, met the same fate. Soala's magic was impenetrable. There was no hope of victory.  
  
"Futile attacks." Soala showed little emotion as he continued his magic. "It is nearly complete. I am an Omega mage no longer." He put his arms at his sides. All was peaceful. And then, Soala extended his arms. "Now, I am THE Ultima Mage!" The following explosion was so powerful that none could stand up, see, or hear.  
  
"What... was... that...supposed to do? We're still here." Yuna was out of breath from the immense blast.  
  
"Fools. Look around you." As YRP looked, they could see that the many buildings of Luca, once on fire, were now leveled and mere ashes [A/N: Think nuke, ok?]  
  
"One thing left." Soala snickered. He snapped his fingers once. Paine fell down and her body turned to pyreflies before she hit the ground. He snapped again. Rikku met the same fate.  
  
"But"- Yuna gasped as Soala snapped once more. She fell and also faded.  
  
"Girls? What's going on?" Tidus said as he came up the stairs.  
  
"Ah, the dream. A final farewell to those who have opposed me. Good bye." Soala waved his hand and Tidus faded. "One final thing to do." A great blue beam shot from the sky, hit the skyscraper, and as the building collapsed in a magnificent fashion, Luca was done. Soala got out of the rubble, and walked away.  
  
---  
"Where are we?" Yuna woke up with Paine and Rikku looking at her.  
  
"It's the farplane, Yunie."  
  
"How'd we get here?" Yuna said, knowing and fearing the answer.  
  
"How do you think? We're dead Yuna." Paine said bluntly.  
  
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Don't worry, it'll all work out ;)


	4. Reincarnation

I'm sorry for delay.

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"So, what now?" Yuna had been worried for both herself and Spira. Paine was barely holding on to sanity. Rikku was trying to be optimistic.

"What do you mean 'what now'? WE'RE DEAD!" Paine was not exactly in denial either.

Rikku on the other hand was watching them argue, but she had to participate also. "Well, we can still watch Spira though the pyreflies." It was an interesting thing they had found, seeing Spira via pyreflies.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the best thing to watch. Soala was toying with the world, using huge fiends to do his bidding. Bevelle was holding out. Youth League HQ would last only another day or two. Machine Faction was down to just the Chamber of the Fayth and had an hour or so before the fiends took them. Paine's father had been in Luca with them but it was too hard to look at Luca, so for all they knew, he may have lived. Paine hadn't seen him arrive in the Farplane, although as many others were coming in, it wouldn't have been too hard to miss him. Paine said that she hadn't caught him yet (in a disappointed voice).

When people arrive in the farplane, their bodies arrive, then break into pyreflies. Yuna thought that their friends or other ones they would like to be with then meet them, like YRP had. She could envision Sir Auron, Lord Braska, and Sir Jecht sitting together.

Something attracted Yuna's attention to a shadowy area hidden by pyreflies. Movement. Eventually, however impossible it may seem, a moogle walked out. Followed by another. And another. Three moogles now stood before a dumbfounded YRP.

"We must be seeing things." Paine said what no one else wanted to say- they were going crazy. Luckily for us, they were wrong.

The moogles began to do a Moogle Beam. As each one hit YRP separately, they were covered in pyreflies. Then, they were gone.

Meanwhile, Soala was living like a king. He conjured anything he wanted, and an immense army of fiends was around him. He had built himself a castle so large it covered Kilika Forest and Kilika Port. He already had plans for a new empire when Spira lay in ashes. He would have to recreate the human race probably, but no matter. His magic was such that he was immortal, and could do basically anything. So he would have fun toying with Spira's armies and then do what needed to be done.

YRP had materialized in Luca. Or rather, in a large area of ash and blackened earth. They had never looked at Luca while in the Farplane. Perhaps they should've. The shock was unbearable, seeing failure was so hard.

"How did it come to this? How?" Yuna cried hard and long. She was so sad. Many times she had driven away destruction, but today it all lay in ashes. Until she caught a glimpse of something on the ground. It looked like some debris moving up and down. And then, a face.

"L-lady Yuna?" said the remarkably alive Calli. She had opened some sort of trap door. As she threw it open, she said, "We'd worried that you had died!"

"We did." Paine said, after being satisfied that her father was not within five miles.

"Then you'reâ€unsent?" Calli said this with a touch of revulsion.

"Weâ€don't know what we are. We were at the farplane, right Yunie?" Rikku was happy because her optimism had paid off.

"Right. But whatever we are, we got a second chance and we're going to use it!"

"Wait. You said 'we'." Paine said, being able to cut to the chase.

"Yes. Come see." Calli led them down through stairs under the trapdoor. What they saw was a huge cavern extending under the city, filled with refugees. After some very excited talks and explanations, the story stood at this:

When Soala had entered Luca and was in the skyscraper going to the top, he came across Calli, who was helping out a friend that worked there. When asked why he was there, Soala gave his usual grandiose speech about justice and destruction and power. Calli, sensing something was amiss, ran outside and got as many people as she could into the fire cave. It was used for fir, but it worked as a refuge from Soala as well. So now YRP had the element of surprise, and perhaps one last chance to take down Soala. It just might work.

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I don't think I got Calli right. I haven't seen any scenes with her in it in a while. And just so you know, the moogles have brought YRP back to life, they're not ghosts/unsents,


	5. Divide and conquer

Hi guys. I take it my last chapter was enjoyable (the reviews seem to indicate that) and so now it's time for my good friend Soala to get a little wake up call. And to answer the many questions, Tidus did not go to the Farplane because he's a dream. He'll be back, but not this chapter.

Yuna was thinking. She did that a lot nowadays. The whole deal with Sin had made her basically reprogram her brain. But now she thought about how you penetrate an impenetrable defense. Stealth sounded good. Soala had set himself up a small city, as her spies had told her. Perhaps that could be invaded, though some fiends more powerful than any others might pose a small threat.

In the end it was decided that Rikku would attempt to defend the Machine Faction, Paine would go to Youth League HQ and Yuna would go to Bevelle. They understood that as a team they would be the most powerful but there simply wasn't time.

Soala's HQ (near the ruins of Zanarkand)

Soala meanwhile was considering his options. Yeah, yeah, yeah destroy Spira, but then what? He had planned on recreating the human race but that thought worried him. He might mess up. And then here was another option, very risky in the short term but later on...

The Machine Faction

"Hiya!" Rikku shouted triumphantly. She had just fought away a wave of fiends, and could now enter the former Djose Temple. The problem was not kicking the ass of some super fiend, but it was more dealing with what she found inside.

"Who- no can't be- Rikku? Rikku!" Gippal hadn't eaten in three days. Being naturally disposed to being obsessive, he considered this good work. Obsessive is good in war.

"You owe me, Gippal. If you have one gil to your name when you pay me back for all this, you'll have found it on the floor."

"Nice to see you too, Cid's girl. How's Brother? And Buddy?"

"Brother handed in his resignation when we finally had an autopilot better than him. Buddy went to look for him. Last sighting was in the Calm Lands headed toward Bevelle in a drunken stupor."

"Why am I not surprised? Anyway, to business. What about these fiends?"

"There's a mage, Soala. He is as close to God as we are ever going to get. He'll summon fiends and cast magic to tear Spira apart."

"Wow. Should be fun." Typical Gippal.

Soala's HQ (near the ruins of Zanarkand)

Soala's plan was foolproof, even though Soala was no fool. He would start with a small group of compliant humans. They would not be allowed to speak badly about or to him. Eventually, several generations later, thoughts themselves would be restricted. All violators would simply fade into pyreflies the instant they defied him. And the best part is that, being immortal, this would be a permanently brainwashed planet.

Bevelle

Rikku had (temporarily) liberated the Machine Faction, but Yuna was having less luck with New Yevon. Soala had the bulk of his armies here. She could take off large chunks at a time, but never quite make the jump to a victory. She knew that every second meant more fiends pouring in. However, Soala was currently getting ready for victory celebration, thinking about the personal powers he had, and speculating on the immense knowledge he was gaining. So she continued her fight. As she looked around her, she saw a Mega Tonberry approaching.

Quickly switching through all spheres on her grid, she became a Black Mage. The Megiddo grid endowed her with fantastic powers, and she was about to prove it. The first thing the Tonberry heard before noticing Yuna was, "Flare!"

Unperturbed, the Tonberry continued. Yuna cast Ultima once, ridding the area of any smaller fiends that could help the larger one. She quickly swapped into Lady Luck.

"Hey, turtle! Try the one-armed bandit!" She then hit him with a Mad Rush from Attack Reels. No New Yevon soldiers had challenged the Tonberry, so it wasn't used to fights. It was knocked back into a half-wall (It had been knocked down by something big.) Spherechange to Alchemist.

"This goes here, and then..." Yuna remembered the directions...yes! A White Hole! The Tonberry crumpled down and faded. Yuna sighed. There were 10,000 'shock troops'- really powerful fiends- in or around Bevelle. If they took occupation of the city, things would get hairy. The Youth League, though at peace with New Yevon, would seize an opportunity. The balance of power, already upset with the appearance of Soala, would collapse. Even without Soala, a civil war would engulf Spira. And she had this much trouble killing one.

Soala's HQ (near the ruins of Zanarkand)

Soala detested Zanarkand. It was a reminder of his failure to the people of Spira. It was a reminder to his rejection from power and status. It was a reminder of a year obtaining the Cigam, an ancient book of godlike spells. It was a reminder of a year of planning, before the destruction of Luca. But worst and most infuriating of all, it was a reminder of another great empire that had fallen. It was a reminder that somewhere within him, he was merely human. He hated this. When he talked with Yuna that one time, on the building, he had put on arrogance and total control. But his real emotion was fear. Fear beyond that of death. No, he was fearful of what price he would pay for this. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Spira would soon be finished receiving force. When was the reaction due?

So why, then had Soala built his HQ there? The reason he told himself was that he wanted to find an isolated place in good position relative to the rest of Spira. The real reason was that deep within him, there was him, merely human. Deep within that, there was a remnant of emotion. Deep within that remnant of emotion, was pity. And that pity worked to keep him where he would remember.

Youth League HQ

Paine had had enough. She had fought wave after wave of fiend. She now sat in the Den of Woe, a place fiends would no longer go. But she could go. She thought. She swigged a potion. What did she think about? Her father, first of all. How he had been probably killed in the Luca fire. How she wasn't sure if she was sorry. She was worried. Because just as inside Soala was pity, within Paine was emotion as well. But unlike Soala's, that was fighting to grow, Paine's was dying. She worried that she would soon become more machina than human. If that happened, what would there be? An empty body? Can a body exist without a soul? As she thought she heard a voice from behind. And that was scarier than any loss of emotion.

END OF CHAPTER 5

Sorry for the cliffhanger. I'm writing in the details as I go along, but the plotline is finalized. See ya soon!

PS First time I wrote battles. How'd I do?


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